Umbrian Osteria Uses Interactive Olive Oil List to Deepen Guest Engagement

Summary

Tipico Osteria dei Sensi in Montone is an #EvooAmbassador restau­rant in the Strada dell’Olio DOP Umbria net­work, known for using high-qual­ity extra vir­gin olive oils from Umbria and offer­ing an inter­ac­tive olive oil list for patrons to explore. The restau­ran­t’s pres­i­dent, Paolo Morbidoni, believes that the inter­ac­tive list helps spark inter­est in olive oil among cus­tomers of all lev­els of famil­iar­ity and has seen pos­i­tive feed­back, with the list receiv­ing twice as many views as the web­site.

Situated in the ham­let of Montone, a medieval gem north of Perugia, Tipico Osteria dei Sensi is one of the 35 #EvooAmbassador restau­rants in the Strada dell’Olio DOP Umbria net­work.

Included in the Michelin Bib Gourmand selec­tion and hon­ored with the Slow Food Snail dis­tinc­tion, the con­tem­po­rary oste­ria has built its iden­tity around ingre­di­ents sourced exclu­sively from Umbria. At the cen­ter of that approach is a curated selec­tion of high-qual­ity extra vir­gin olive oils from across the region.

To bring the world of olive oil to a wider audi­ence, patrons Paolo Morbidoni and Giancarlo Polito, the restaurant’s chef, launched an inter­ac­tive olive oil list fea­tur­ing con­tent cre­ated by the pro­duc­ers them­selves.

By scan­ning a QR code placed on each table, guests can open the list on their smart­phones. Along with a brief descrip­tion and a photo of each bot­tle, every entry includes a link to a short video, with English sub­ti­tles, in which the pro­ducer intro­duces the oil and shares addi­tional details.

“EvooAmbassador restau­rants include mid- to high-end eater­ies com­mit­ted to using the oils of the Olive Oil Road’s mem­ber com­pa­nies and to help­ing raise aware­ness about proper olive oil use, both at the table and in the kitchen,” said Morbidoni, pres­i­dent of the Umbria PDO Olive Oil Road and one of the pro­mot­ers of the net­work.

“Each of us restau­ra­teurs expresses this focus on olive oil in dif­fer­ent ways,” he added. ​“At our oste­ria, we intro­duced the inter­ac­tive olive oil list as another step in the path we began 13 years ago, built on a com­mit­ment to qual­ity and a care­ful selec­tion of prod­ucts, with pre­mium oils at its core.”

Morbidoni said olive oil is not only an essen­tial ingre­di­ent, but also a way to under­stand the ter­ri­tory. With that in mind, the list was designed to rep­re­sent pro­duc­ers from across the region and to sup­port broader inter­est in olive oil tourism and local food cul­ture.

One sec­tion is ded­i­cated to PDO Umbrian oils, with one selec­tion from each of the five sub-zones of the Protected Designation of Origin: Colli Assisi-Spoleto, Colli Martani, Colli Orvietani, Colli Amerini and Colli del Trasimeno.

Another sec­tion high­lights the region’s main olive vari­eties, pre­sent­ing mono­va­ri­etals made from Moraiolo, Frantoio, Dolce Agogia, Rajo and San Felice.

A third sec­tion fea­tures ​“rare” oils from Upper Umbria made from less com­mon cul­ti­vars such as Borgiona, Nostrale di Rigali, Gentile di Anghiari, Pocciolo and Limona.

“We used to bring our clas­sic olive oil list with the wine list and the menu, take some time to describe the oils and let our guests taste them,” Morbidoni said. ​“But I real­ized the expe­ri­ence ended in just a few min­utes, the time it took them to choose their dishes.”

He said the dig­i­tal for­mat gives din­ers a chance to explore the sub­ject more deeply, both dur­ing and after the meal. Once accessed, the link remains on their phones, allow­ing them to revisit the list and dis­cover other oils and pro­duc­ers later.

Morbidoni said the first goal of the inter­ac­tive list is to spark inter­est among cus­tomers with very dif­fer­ent lev­els of famil­iar­ity with olive oil, from expe­ri­enced con­sumers to com­plete begin­ners.

“I believe that what a good restau­ra­teur can do is stim­u­late inter­est in olive oil,” he said. ​“Through the short videos, pro­duc­ers offer engag­ing snap­shots of the com­pany, the ter­roir and the vari­eties they cul­ti­vate. That can spark curios­ity to learn more.”

He added that the project also reflects the need to rely on for­mats that res­onate with con­tem­po­rary audi­ences. After a year of exper­i­men­ta­tion, Morbidoni said, the data has been encour­ag­ing: the olive oil list has aver­aged roughly twice as many views as the web­site host­ing it, sug­gest­ing strong inter­est from guests.